it and saved the couch’s fabric from a stain that probably wouldn’t even show amid all the others accrued through the years.
She scrutinized Danica in the light-brightened darkness, and a slow, knowing smile curved her lips. “Ten minutes and on purpose. I saw you getting it on and didn’t want to interrupt. You were way overdue.”
She did what?
Lena had been her friend for over two years, and they’d never had anything more than temporary minor friction between them. Now, Danica felt like she didn’t even know her. “Telling him where I live wasn’t enough, you watched us?”
Lena’s fingers stilled with a naked chip midway to her mouth. “Hell, no, I didn’t watch. I had a vision about it.”
“You had a vision of me having sex?”
“I had a vision of Jordan showing up on your doorstep ready to do you and you answering the door looking just as ready to do him. When he asked for your address, I figured it was destined I tell him.” She popped the chip into her mouth, then leaned down to pull a six-pack of Pepsi from beneath the couch’s frame. “Here.”
A quarter moon cast a dim glow on the beach fifty feet beyond the raised terrace. The tide was receding, leaving the sand to dry. Danica’s throat suddenly felt even dryer than the sand. Her fingers curled, wanting to grab hold of the soda and drink it back can after can—she still hadn’t gotten her fix for the day. Only, she couldn’t let Lena off so easily. “Pepsi? You think that’s enough to make up for what you’ve done?”
“What I’ve done is see that you experienced passion for the first time in eons. That’s called a favor. The Pepsi’s a bonus.”
“I don’t want it, and I sure as heck don’t want or need you seeing to my sex life.” Liar. At least the first part was a lie. She really didn’t want Lena acting like her personal pimp.
“You do want it, and you’re glad I sent Jordan over here.” She smiled conspiratorially. “Eyes don’t lie, hon. Yours are screaming happily laid and in dire need of refreshment.”
Danica should hang on to her anger a while longer. If she gave in now, there was no telling who or what Lena would send to her place in the future. But they had been friends for over two years, and she’d never been good at holding a grudge.
She sank down on the end of the weathered couch opposite Lena, grabbing the soda and freeing a can from the plastic ring around its neck. She pulled the tab and took a long, luscious drink before sending Lena’s sky blue, midriff-baring tank top and skimpy white shorts a teasingly snarky look. “Your earrings don’t match your outfit.”
Humor flashed in Lena’s eyes. “So you tell me at least three times a week. Give it up. I’m not taking them off.”
Danica smiled. “Thanks. For the Pepsi. I’m still not thrilled about your giving Jordan my address, though I probably would never have found out his cock is plenty big otherwise.”
Lena paused with another naked chip dangling from her fingertips. The astonishment in her eyes said her vision really hadn’t shown all—if she’d even had an honest-to-goodness vision. “Come again?”
“I thought he was checking out the resort because he was considering a penis enlargement. I spent the entire morning looking at his crotch; then I told him about my nut fetish. Hence the reason he was so eager to find out where I live. He was convinced I wanted to sleep with him.”
“You did, but debating that fact’s pointless now. So what is he here for?”
“He won’t say, just that there are a lot of things he would like to change.”
“What do you think? Is it a case of a great face and build but a freak show beneath his clothes?”
Danica stiffened. She knew Lena didn’t mean anything cruel by her words, but they hit on a nerve sensitive enough to have Danica’s belly rumbling for almonds. She didn’t stock almonds at home, given their tendency to go straight to her waistline, or rather, a little to the right side of her waistline and a lot to the left.
Talk about a freak show.
If not for her robe covering up her sides and back, Jordan would have taken one look at her and run.
She dipped a chip into the salsa and jammed it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, letting the balmy night breeze and the salt smell lifting off the sea ease away her irritation and overcritical self-bashing. “No idea,” she finally said. “He never took them off.”
Lena’s eyes went wide with appreciation. “Oh, man. He just pulled his cock out and did the deed. Hot.”
“Actually, his cock was out of his pants and sheathed before I even opened the door.” When she’d first made that discovery, Danica had been turned off by his self-assurance. Then he’d palmed her sex and dipped one of those long, thick fingers inside her body, and she could have cared less if he was arrogant, so long as he didn’t stop fucking her. “But, yeah, very hot.”
“Next time you’ll both be naked.”
Danica pulled from the hedonistic daze she’d fallen under with the memory. As incredible as it had felt to have a man’s hands on her body after so much time, his cock pumping away inside her, it wouldn’t be happening again anytime soon. Work was her priority. And, if she was to be completely honest, she would rather leave Jordan with the impression he’d had of her when he left the villa: that she was good to look at. “There won’t be a next time.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but Hi’iaka tells me otherwise.”
Then it was a good thing Danica wasn’t convinced Hi’iaka was sending Lena visions. Just to be safe, she downed the rest of her Pepsi in one long swig and then reached for the remaining cans for reinforcement.
3
Jordan punched the elevator button for the second floor of Private Indulgence’s main offices. He’d spent the night considering Danica’s response to the primal way he’d taken her up against the wall and came to the conclusion he was acting like a cynical ass. The resort could prove to be a bad investment when compared with others in the industry or all on its own. Until that happened, he had no reason to expect the worst of it or its owner.
His father was behind his cynicism. John had known Danica less than a week, and in that time she’d earned enough of his respect for him to trust her with his money in a way Jordan hadn’t been able to accomplish in years.
Putting it simply, Jordan was jealous as hell.
The elevator dinged as it reached the second floor. He stepped out of the car, determined not to let jealousy play a part in his treatment of Danica from this point on. He would be open-minded, get to know her as his father had. If doing so revealed past or ongoing skeletons, hopefully they would be enough to sway his father into trusting Jordan with his money instead. If it didn’t…It was the old man’s money to invest with whom and where he chose.
He reached the executive operations suite and opened the door to an empty waiting room decorated in cheery yellows and greens, the walls lined with framed photos of the resort under construction, along with certificates of training completion for Danica and the rest of the staff housed in the suite. He moved up to the check-in desk.
Flashing a practiced smile, a late fiftysomething, silver-haired receptionist slid open the glass partition separating the administrative and waiting areas. Her gaze fell on his shirt, and amusement gleamed in her eyes. “May I help you?”
Not busting a gut laughing over his clothes would be a start. The kitschy red Hawaiian shirt, with its enormous purple and white flowers, was ridiculous-looking but preferable to sweating to death in his suit.
Jordan typically wouldn’t resort to charm to get his way. Since he didn’t have an actual appointment and the shirt wasn’t exactly doing him any favors, he didn’t have much choice. He flashed his teeth in an appreciative smile as he scanned her nameplate.